TV Antenna - what to do??

[ACMarina]

I'm just over 60 miles from the transmission towers in Indianapolis, and I have a relatively clear exposure to the Southeast (direction I need to be).

I've got a hookup on the side of the house with a grounding point, but I'm debating how to get the antenna up high enough to pick up the signals consistently. I've found that if I have the antenna at about roof level I can get Lafayette Indiana channel 18, about 15 miles away, at 100% on my signal meter. How much higher do I need to go to get an acceptable percentage on the other stations?? What's the most economical way to do so??

Help me out!!

 

[raggie33]

all ya need is here.http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

 

[WNG]

60 miles is pretty far, unless their transmitter is very high.
Before committing to purchasing stuff, make sure to look up local ordinances on height limits to aerials from the ground and roof tops, in your area.

Height and the largest gain antenna should yield the best results. If the station antennas aren't centralized, a directional motor assembly is required.

 

[Mad1]

We are in a similar situation in the UK.

We are getting a guy around to put an arial up for us. Figure it's cheaper and better in the long run if some one else does it.

 

[savumaki]

FTA is worth a look if it doesn't offend your principles.

 

[BIGIRON]

I've had good luck with a Turk amplified antennae at 45miles, 30ft above ground and pretty much line of sight. Much better with the digitized signals. You either get a decent picture or nothing

You might want to look at a basic satellite system. You'll probably be able to get most if not all your "local" channels thru the sat feed for like an additional $5 month.. My new system can take the on-air signals and run them thru the sat box. The few times we've lost the sat signal due heavy storms, we were still able to get the local channels.

That site Raggie sent you to is great.

edit - Whats FTA? In my past, it meant "---- the Army".

 

[mosport]

FTA is short for Free-To-Air satellite receiver, they receive unencrypted digitally broadcast programming such as PBS, NASA, ethnic and religious channels etc... on C-band and Ku-band straight out of the box.

 

[z96Cobra]

I've had really good luck with this antenna amp from RadioShack. I even have one on my scanner antenna. I use mine to get the OTA digital signals out of Cincinnati, OH. I live in a river valley with a large hill between me and the stations that I want to receive. Without the amp, my signal is crappy and I get very jerky video (digital signals are basically all or nothing) but with the amp the signal is awesome and I can actually watch shows with no drop-outs of the signal.

Roger

 

[chesterqw]

buy a parabolic reflector from surplus shed and stick your antenna in the middle.

 

[yuandrew]

I'm in a bit of a "tough" situation myself. I have a Polaroid brand 15.4" LCD HDTV with an ATSC tuner and I'm using it to watch over the air HD broadcasts. The problem is my mother would not let me put an antenna of any type on our roof which would be the most ideal in my situation. I am restricted to only indoor antennas and I've found an amplified set works the best when placed on a high shelf. I'm only 28 to 30 miles from the broadcast towers but there is no line of sight; the signal has to penetrate through two hills about 4 to 6 miles away, a third hill behind my house, and the walls and roof of the house itself. Antennaweb said I would not be able to receive any digital channels but I was able to pick some up when I did a channel scan. With the antenna pointed in one direction, I could get eight. I have to rotate the UHF circle to get the other six channels.

I took some pictures of the different ways I have to turn the antenna and wrote the channel I could get with the corresponding position.

 

[Groundhog66]

Direct TV



sorry

 

[ACMarina]

I have no restrictions on height or anything - I'm just not interested in spending the $5,000 that the local TV antenna company said I'd need to spend to put up a tower..

For that much, I'm with Groundhog66..

Only trouble with that idea is that the local TV stations won't give signal to the satallite company, so I'd have to pay for distant locals..

Anybody want to chime in and let me know what satallite costs??

 

[Pellidon]

I was just outside of Mooresville southeast of Indy. Direct TV was $80 for the middle package (105 channels?), local TV, HBO-Showtime. Cinemax-Sundance/IFC.

 

[BIGIRON]

If you'll watch for promos, you can get into Dish or Direct for very little and like $20 month for basic (which is actually quite a few good channels - History, Discovery, SciFi). Check their websites for the locals you can actually get.

The higher the better - you might also consider putting a mast alongside your house. Wouldn't be very expensive if you DIY. You could easily gain 10-15 feet and that might be enough.

edit A quick check of www.dishtv.com indicated the Indianapolis locals are available.

 

[ACMarina]

Hmmm.. well, another thought to ponder..